Coordination chemistry in biological media: reactions of antitumor Pt(II) and Au(III) complexes with cell culture media

Transition metal complexes with oligopeptides: single crystals and crystal structures

The coordination chemistry of short chain peptides with transition metals is described in terms of the available crystal structures. Despite their high interest as synthetic models for metalloproteins and as building blocks for molecular materials based on the tuneable properties of oligopeptides, single crystal X-ray diffraction studies are scarce. A perusal of the most relevant results in this field allows us to define the main characteristics of oligopeptide-metal interactions, the fundamental problems for the crystallization of these complexes, and some hints to identify future promising approaches to advance the development of metallopeptide chemistry.

Reaction of cis- and trans-[PtCl2(NH3)2] with reduced glutathione inside human red blood cells, studied by 1H and 15N-[1H] DEPT NMR

Reactions of cis- and trans-[PtCl2(NH3)2] with glutathione (GSH) inside intact red blood cells have been studied by 1H spin-echo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Upon addition of trans-[PtCl2(NH3)2] to a suspension of red cells, there was a gradual decrease in the intensity of the resonances for free GSH, and new peaks were observed that were assignable to coordinated GSH protons in trans-[Pt(SG)Cl(NH3)2], trans-[Pt(SG)2(NH3)2], and possibly the S-bridged complex trans-[[NH3)2PtCl)2SG]+. Formation of trans-[Pt(SG)2(NH3)2] inside the cell was confirmed from the 1H NMR spectrum of hemolyzed cells, which were ultrafiltered to remove large protein molecules; the ABM multiplet of the coordinated GSH cys-beta CH2 protons was resolved using selective-decoupling experiments. Seventy percent of the total intracellular GSH was retained by the ultrafiltration membrane, suggesting that the mixed complex trans-[Pt(SG)(S-hemoglobin)(NH3)2] also is a major metabolite of trans-[PtCl2(NH3)2] inside red cells. The reaction of cis-[PtCl2(NH3)2] with intracellular GSH was slower; only 35% of the GSH had been complexed after a 4-hr incubation compared to 70% for the trans isomer. There was a gradual decrease in the intensity of the GSH 1H spin-echo NMR resonances, but no new peaks were resolved. This was interpreted as formation of high-molecular weight Pt:GSH and mixed GS-Pt-S(hemoglobin) polymers. By using a 15N-[1H] DEPT pulse sequence, we were able to study the reaction of cis-[PtCl2(15NH3)2] with red cells at concentrations as low as 1 mM. 15NH3 ligands were released, and no resonances assignable to Pt-15NH3 species were observed after a 12-hr incubation.